Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 37%
| Nine (2009) | "
John Lennon once said, "There's a great woman behind every idiot." This time, I'm counting seven of them." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 25, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 70%
| Sherlock Holmes (2009) | "
Guy Ritchie is the worst screenwriter in the world, but, to be fair, he is not the worst director. He is only the worst director of the people who actually get to make movies." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 25, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 89%
| Crazy Heart (2009) | "
This show belongs to Bridges, who starts off as a magnificent train wreck and then takes a journey with the character." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 25, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 74%
| The Young Victoria (2009) | "
If you like this sort of movie -- and actually, cards on the table, I like this kind of movie -- you will not be sorry you saw it. But you will not come away from the experience feeling that you've seen Victoria, young or otherwise." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 18, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 15%
| Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009) | "
Sometimes it's unpleasant, sometimes it's insincere, and for long stretches it's boring. There are good parts, too, but they all come in the first 10 minutes." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 18, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 83%
| Me and Orson Welles (2009) | "
I forgot that I was looking at an actor. I really believed I was looking at Welles." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 82%
| A Single Man (2009) | "
Several diverse currents come together in A Single Man to form a good movie and a great opportunity for actor Colin Firth." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 76%
| Invictus (2009) | "
It's never less than worthy and entertaining, but the importance of Invictus doesn't broaden as it goes along. It narrows." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 11, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 57%
| Brothers (2009) | "
In a role without any flamboyant touches, playing what is essentially just a decent, intelligent woman, Portman lends the film dignity, understanding and true radiance." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 28%
| Serious Moonlight (2009) | "
It's difficult to say whether the script itself is a serious misfire or if the problem is Cheryl Hines, an actress making her directorial debut." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 46%
| Everybody's Fine (2009) | "
Let the sentiment reveal itself. Don't veer into sentimentality. Don't push. Just trust the story. That's the whole trick with a movie like Everybody's Fine." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Dec 4, 2009 |
Rotten
| Rotten 31%
| Ninja Assassin (2009) | "
It's a gorefest, a borefest and a snorefest." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4/
| Rotten 6%
| Old Dogs (2009) | "
The great thing about comedy these days is that few people are making movies like Old Dogs." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 25, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 72%
| The Blind Side (2009) | "
If someone were telling you this story, you might say, "Wow. That's something." Even so, the narrative is not quite big enough to bear the weight and significance that writer-director John Lee Hancock tries to attach to it." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 90%
| The Messenger (2009) | "
The Messenger is a privileged glimpse into people's private pain, a drama shot with the simplicity and immediacy of a documentary." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 28%
| The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) | "
Alexandre Desplat's overwrought musical score will appeal to viewers who already agree that Bella and Edward's love is glorious. Others won't be persuaded, no matter how much he insists." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 19, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 95%
| The Maid (2009) | "
With a few brushstrokes, Sebastian Silva communicates the complicated social and moral dynamic involved in having a live-in maid." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 60%
| Pirate Radio (2009) | "
This might sound like a sentimental recipe, but Richard Curtis, who wrote and directed, keeps the spirit fresh and anarchic." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Rotten 39%
| 2012 (2009) | "
People talk about "formula" almost always as a pejorative, but formulas get to be formulas because they work, and there's something to be said for a formula picture done almost to perfection." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 12, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 16%
| Gentlemen Broncos (2009) | "
The comic performance of Jemaine Clement, as the writer, is the one thing to salvage from this experience." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 69%
| (Untitled) (2009) | "
It doesn't have a hero who's right and everyone else is wrong. And though it mocks every character, it dismisses nobody. It makes a case for every point of view, including those the filmmakers don't share." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 54%
| The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) | "
There's not much of a story here. All that energy, all that enthusiasm and all that self-generated propulsion are about one thing: distracting us from realizing it." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Nov 5, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Rotten 27%
| The Canyon (2009) | "
The best thing about this would-be nature thriller is Will Patton's zesty performance as a cackling, crazed muleskinner, a wily old hand who exits far too soon. There's nothing much to replace him, so we're in for a long 102 minutes." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| N/A | Pig Hunt (2008) | "
For all the movie's virtues, Pig Hunt is hampered by the usual faults of the horror genre -- undeveloped characters, jokes that fall flat and dialogue that often feels like filler." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Fresh 71%
| Walt and El Grupo (2009) | "
The production values are first rate. But you will wait in vain to hear a good reason for this movie's existence." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 97%
| The Beaches of Agnes (2009) | "
Filmmakers don't usually do documentaries about themselves, but Agnes Varda's The Beaches of Agnes is good enough to start a trend." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 30, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 50%
| Antichrist (2009) | "
The movie's story and meaning are not mysterious but deliberately impenetrable, faint gestures in all directions, absent of artistic integrity, intellectual rigor or emotional significance." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 87%
| Big Fan (2009) | "
It's a classic situation, transplanted to a small, petty arena. When I think of this movie, I think of Oswalt, how his anguish feels real (whether we understand it or not) and how his face unaccountably becomes an offbeat locus of dignity." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 21%
| Amelia (2009) | "
Director Mira Nair dresses that up with visual grace, with shots of clouds and sky that are beautiful and elusive enough to escape the tinge of cliche. But the basic bones of the story are the problem here." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 23, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 94%
| An Education (2009) | "
Hornby's humane and humorous screenplay is true to the film's title: In short order, young Jenny finds out important truths about identity, glamour and how adults really think and live." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 73%
| Where the Wild Things Are (2009) | "
Where the Wild Things Are is audacious in its refusal to be reassuring, which makes it hard to love, but also hard to dismiss." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 16, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 87%
| A Serious Man (2009) | "
It's hard to love a movie that makes you feel anxious and miserable, and yet it's impossible not to respect a movie that has that power." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Fresh 72%
| The Boys Are Back (2009) | "
The Boys Are Back is based on a true story, and not in a good way. It's obviously true; otherwise why would anyone think it's worth telling a story so trivial?" — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 83%
| We Live in Public (2009) | "
Harris, who appears throughout in interview footage, is an interesting mix -- someone with a serious inability to connect with other people and yet at the same time someone with a consistent ability to see the future." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 9, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 65%
| Coco Before Chanel (2009) | "
Coco Chanel is not the most lovable of heroines, but it's a strength of the film that director Anne Fontaine allows Tautou to make Coco as cold and ungiving as she does." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 57%
| The Invention of Lying (2009) | "
The Invention of Lying, in addition to being very funny and inventive, is an attempt at a genuine statement about life, social discourse and morality." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 89%
| Zombieland (2009) | "
What you're ultimately left with is a movie for people who think what they really would like to do tonight is watch zombies." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Oct 2, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 27%
| Fame (2009) | "
[Its] hyperreal documentary quality is combined with a borderline fantasy feeling, which will probably drive some literal-minded viewers up the wall, but which is actually the movie's best element and its one claim to distinction." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 67%
| Paris (2009) | "
Klapisch captures the bittersweet quality of those human contacts that seem to hold promise, but life goes by too fast for them to take root." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 25, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 87%
| The Baader Meinhof Complex (2009) | "
A rare epic that deserves every minute of its epic length." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 70%
| My One and Only (2009) | "
A grand, colorful coming-of-age story with a candy box color palette and a standout performance by Renée Zellweger. It's a great story and a great crowd-pleaser." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Sep 4, 2009 |
Rotten 1/4
| Fresh 78%
| It Might Get Loud (2009) | "
No self-respecting Led Zeppelin fan could hate a movie that contains extended interviews with Jimmy Page. But that can't change the fact that It Might Get Loud is an empty exercise." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 49%
| Taking Woodstock (2009) | "
Taking Woodstock has the appeal of an inside story told from an especially good angle. But beyond that, the movie is a celebration of the way this event has gone into memory and of the meaning it has acquired." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 28, 2009 |
Fresh 4/4
| Fresh 88%
| Inglourious Basterds (2009) | "
The picture contains all the things his fans like about Tarantino -- the wit, the audacity, the sudden violence -- but this movie's emotional core and bigness of spirit are new." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 70%
| American Casino (2009) | "
The film is designed for the public, but because it's made up of interviews with financial insiders -- and financial insiders talk like experts, not like high school economics teachers -- some of this information may be difficult for lay people to follow." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 21, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 88%
| The English Surgeon (2009) | "
Some will feel privileged to see human drama and an aspect of life not often seen on the movie screen. Others will feel haunted by it and wish they never saw it. For sure, few will leave the film unaffected." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Rotten 38%
| The Time Traveler's Wife (2009) | "
It takes, as its subjects, the sadness and grandeur of life and the mystery of time, and it offers a full experience to those who find its wavelength." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Rotten 26%
| The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009) | "
Something about The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard feels forgettable, even though, in the moment, it's often very funny." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 14, 2009 |
Fresh 3/4
| Fresh 86%
| Lorna's Silence (2009) | "
It leaves the audience with neither a sense of uplift nor devastation, but, rather, with something more akin to intellectual appreciation." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
Rotten 2/4
| Fresh 60%
| Paper Heart (2009) | "
Paper Heart is a cute movie, a little too cute and a little too aware of its own cuteness." — San Francisco Chronicle Posted Aug 7, 2009 |
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